Always
by fuhwost
Summary: this is my first fic for archive of our work but im posting it here because that site has paragraph discourse Midorikawa always appreciated Hiroto's protection during the event's of Aliea Gakuen, but one day he found himself appreciating Hiroto's protection a little too much.
'Failure will not be tolerated. Do you understand me Reize?', growled Burn aggresively.

Reize wanted to cry. He couldn't believe his team lost to Raimon. True he had won multiple times, but being the debut team for Aliea Gakuen, defeat was an incredible blow to their organisation, it gave Japan hope that they could win, and hope was a factor that was un needed in Father's plan.

'Yes..', Reize mumbled lowly.

'Yes, _what?_ ' Burn had a triumphant smirk, one that Reize found himself unwilling to meet.

Reize gulped. 'Yes, Burn-Sama..', he whimpered. He forced himself to look into Burn's furnace of a gaze.

 _Out of everyone.. why did it have to be him to be my superior? Not that Gazel was any better.._

'I promise this won't happen again..-'

Burn stopped him short with a scornful laugh. 'It's not, because you're replaced by Desarm. Hate to say it, but that guy will do a job ten times better than you did, maybe it's because he has some semblance of backbone!'

The fiery captain didn't have long to bully Reize, as Gran had entered the room and was looking at the two with a look of confusion.

'Reize.. Burn, what is going on here?', he said, walking towards them.

 _Gran!_

Gran, unlike Burn and Gazel, showed him care and appreciation. He fondly remembered when Gran.. oh who was he kidding, _Hiroto_ , had proudly padded him on the back for his victories. Whenever anyone had tried to push Reize around, Hiroto had been the one to give them a hiding about rank. As to be expected from the Supreme of Aliea Gakuen! Like it or not, Hiroto was far above Burn and Gazel in everything, and those two knew it.

'Oh look what the cat dragged in. No seriously, looking at you makes me skin crawl.', Burn chuckled. 'I'm just giving this rookie a little talking to, you know how failure is dealt with around here.' He said, gripping Reize's arm a little too hard for the green boy's tastes.

Reize audibly winced, leading to Gran raising an eyebrow. 'I'm sure thats a fact you know all too well, _Nagumo.',_ Gran replied cooly, freeing Reize from his iron grip, who quickly scurried behind Gran's back not too subtly.

'Tch, if it was like it was at the orphanage, you'de be back with dad with a nosebleed. Catch you around, catnip.'

Gran waited till Burn was out of earshop, then immediately unrolled Reize's sleeve to inspect for bruising.

His voice was warm and soft, he only spoke like this to a chosen few. It always caught Reize off guard whenever Gran would speak 'privately' to him, his 'Gran voice' was so intimidating and regal. Fitting, for the master rank captain, and it contrasted perfectly with Burn's in your face vocabulary and Gazel's condescending snarkiness.

Reize couldn't help but stammer awkwardly. 'Y-Yes I'm fine.. Gran-sama-''

'Midorikawa.. there's no need for that when it's just you and me, how many times have I told you this?', he cooed, gingerly holding his arm. 'Call me Hiroto when we're alone, okay?'

'I-It's hard I'm sorry I'm just not good at this whole alien thing.. That's probably why I lost.. The others must hate my guts..', he groaned, gazing at his shoes.

He felt Hiroto's gentle fingers on his chin. 'C'mon, smile, you're a fantastic player, a fantastic friend and a fantastic captain. I even talked to Io before, he expressed intense regret that couldn't serve you properly.'

 _Hiroto.._ His voice was so disarming and gentle, he almost felt jealous that he was chosen to put Endou off guard should Desarm falter. But it was so perfect! You had to be stupid to realise why he wouldn't be Father's chosen, he was charming and smooth and powerful an-

'I gotta go, I'll see you later okay? I see Gazel stalking about, don't let him get to you, if he sees you, tell him you're mine. See ya.', he said with a grin and playfully boxed Midorikawa's ribs, leaving in a confident stride.

 _You're mine.._

Midorikawa stammered, but before he could call out what that meant, he was gone.

 _It's .. He's just sayhing that I'm his to push around if Gazel was mean to me that's all he wouldn't really.._

He felt a blush spread across his face, and there was nothing he could do.

'No he's just a good friend, just a- ow!'

'Just a what?'

Midorikawa looked up and immediately began to regret it. His conflicted shy gaze was met by the icy, penetrating stare of Gazel, captain of Diamond Dust, the _other_ master rank team. This meant nothing to Midorikawa, except that he was just another person that was mean to him daily.

He was terrified how much Gazel heard. Well, truthfully, he really hadn't said much, but someting about Gazel gave one the assumption he could read your thoughts.

'Well?', Gazel cooly interrogated, looking down his nose at the cowering boy.

'Um I.. I was just um, thinking about my team and-'

He gulped. He had to admit, if he had to pick who was scarier it was Gazel. The cold boy could twist the knife without you knowing you were ever stabbed. Also his voice was terrifyingly smooth, it was like Gran's without the regal elegance and charm. Okay, maybe a bit of charm.. the bad charm.

Gazel smirked.

 _Gazel never smiles why won't anyone help me oh god-_

'GAZEL-SAMA!'

The two boys turned to see a, quite flustered Desarm in the hallway.

'Saved by the bell kid, make yourself scarce, I have business.', he said, disappointed his prey would escape so quickly. He turned to Desarm, 'What have you messed up this time..?'

Midorikawa did not care about their conversation. He just cared about getting as far away as possible. Desarm was nice.. in his own way, but did he want to stay and make chit chat? No way.

Hiroto stripped down and put on comfty pajamas. _Good stuff.._ he thought. The Gaia uniform was so tight and.. perverse. Oh well, he wasn't one to complain about appearances. He casually combed his hair down. The gel did get a tad irritating, but if it's what father wanted, he didn't care.

[1 new message]

He glanced at his iPhone 6s tm. 'Huh that's weird, wonder who that cou-', he stopped midway before grinning.

 _Reize 👽👽👽_

 _Hey, thank you so much for bailing me out today as usual, I'm just not good at standing for myself for those guys, they're really scary I don't know how you do it! Anyway I'm free so call me when you can?_

He didn't waste time, even if his hair was a mess, who would see it anyway? He swiped and quick dialed tm immedieately.

Midorikawa sat anxiously in his bed, hoping he didn't come off too clingy . He redid that text message about 17 times before fiinally sending it, he couldn't understand why Hiroto took so much interest in him. They were decent friends at the orphanage, but Burn and Gazel were even closer and now they are at each others throats daily. Power changes people, he supposed.

He layed back, not expecting a response but deperately hoping for one. It was quite nice to have a room to himself. Being a captain did come with it's perks, makes up for the stress and drama. Why were Burn and Gazel so mean to him any-

 _Cos everytime we touch I get this feeling_

Midorikawa bolted and scrambled to answer his phone. _I have to change that ringtone.._

Click.

'Yo Midorikawa, nice night huh?'

Midorikawa couldn't help but smile. For the captain of Gaia, he was quite the dork.

He sighed and played along, 'Yes Hiroto, it sure is.', he reponded as plain as possible, trying not to laugh.

'How've you been?', Hiroto laughed.

Midorikawa laughed back. Hiroto made him feel at ease. He rolled to his side comfortably and wrapped his blanket around himself. 'Pretty good, was gonna sleep soon though', he lied.

'Ah what a shame, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come over and watch shows with me. It's pretty boring around here, Gaia aren't the social type.', he replied as a matter of factly.

'Uh.. Um', Midorikawa didn't know what to say. Did he just.. ask him out?

'You know, because you're my best pal and stuff, but if you need to sleep we could do it another time.. or something.', he mumbled.

Hiroto wasn't one to be... indesivice. 'Uh, yeah sure.. I'll be right over, you're okay right?'

 _Crap that was.. blunt._

'What do you mean?'

His voice sounded cold. _I'm an idiot.._ 'No I meant.. you just sound.. unsure, you want me over right, I don't annoy you or anything?'

Midorikawa was surprised to hear a laugh. 'Of course not, you're my best friend. Hurry up and get here, I'm ordering pizza and I bet you won't beat the pizza guy.'

'W-.. Okay!'

'Good stuff.'

..

None of them wanted to hang up, and they awkwardly gazed blankly waiting for someone to say something.

'I.. I'm hanging up now.', Hiroto murmured.

'Okay.', Midorikawa murmured just as quietly back.

Click.

The most awful noise he had ever heard. He couldn't wait to see Hiroto again, even hearing his voice was enough to make him giddy with joy. He put on his uniform and got ready to leave.

He couldn't stop thinking about Hiroto! It was insane at how profound the effect the captain of Gaia had on poor Midorikawa, and yet.. it was there and it was strong.

He layed in bed a second, losing himself in thought. His charm, his voice, his face, his friendhsip his body hi-

 _His body?!_

Midorikawa shot up, feeling emotion flood through his body, especially at his.. place.

He covered his blush. His face felt like an inferno. _No, no, no, no.. he's my friend, he's my friend! My best friend! I can't think like this! This is terrible it's.. it's a sin!_

He hadn't felt this embarassed since he saw a photo of Desarm vaping. That had been all over Aliea Gakuen, probably the reason why Desarm is reduced to 'First Rank' and not Master Rank, despite having the skills.

Imagine what would happen to him if everyone found out he was gay.. for the leader of Aliea Gakuen no less!

He just had to hide it, it was the only solution. It would be hard, he could barely keep up the facade of being 'Reize', much less these.. beautiful brainwaves.

He got up and reached for his phone to cancel, when he heard a knock.

 _No.. It couldn't be.. that only happens in terrible movies! It can't be him it just can't be..!_

A muffled voice greeted his fears, 'Uh, Yo, Hi, Midorikawa, Uh my phone died and I really gotta talk to you about something.. so if you could let me in, if you're asleep thats uh! That's cool I guess sweet dreams but..-'

 _This is a nightmare! Wait.. talk.. He knows doesn't he! Oh gods..._

Aphrodi sneezed.

Midorikawa opened the door anxiously. Never has he been this frightened to see Hiroto. 'Woah, I should be the one asking if you're okay.. You okay?', Hiroto looked a bit.. anxious himself for a moment, but now he looked concerned. Midorikawa stammered and did not notice.

'Yeah avacado! I mean, yeah i'm okay!', he yelled, a little too loud.

Hiroto winced and tried to calm him down. 'Good gravy, you're not okay, keep it down, I like you but we still have to be a little secretive about this. Wanna tell me what's going on?', he tenderly said, ushering him into his room.

 _Leave me alone.. please.. with your stupid gentle lovely voice.. please Hiroto I'm begging you.._

'I just... love avacado you know me!', he couldn't help himself, he was freaking out.

'Midorikawa, you're allergic to avacado's..', Hiroto murmured.

'Y-yeah but you're allergic to tofu so we're even!', he laughed loudly and nervously.

Hiroto got surprisingly defensive, 'You don't have to rub it in.. a-anyway.'

He grabbed Midorikawa's shoulders. 'Listen, I have to tell you something I don't care if you're weird but It's super important.'

Midorikawa felt himself going light. 'Hey Hiroto I love you.'

Now he felt Hiroto drop him onto the bed, and all went lighter and darker.

'Huh.. what.. what happened.' He opened his eyes, to see a concerned Hiroto. 'Oh hey I.. .. .', he felt his flash flush and attempted to escape.

Hiroto took his arm. 'You fainted for 10 seconds.'

'Just let me go.. I know you hate me, let me leave..', Midorikawa cried. His friendship was over.

'No.'

'Why not..?'

'Because.. I love you too..', Hiroto whispered, pulling him into an embrace.

Midorikawa's eyes widened, 'No thats.. too good to be true..', but he knew it was true, and felt the tears streaming down his eyes as he drank in Hiroto's scent. His _boyfriend's_ scent.

'I love you so much.. I've loved you for so long.. I'm terrible with this stuff, but .. I was afraid someone would get to you before me, despite my.. protection.. So..', Hiroto choked.

Was he crying? Midorikawa couldn't tell. He was busy being in teary ecstacy.

'I'm so glad.. I'm so glad you do.. I was so scared..', he cried out.

'It's done and it's over.. I love you okay, so amazingly much, everytime those two were mean to you I wanted to stab them in their sleep.'

The two shared their embrace, before pulling each other into a soft, intimate kiss and falling onto the bed.

'So.. I'm still yours?', Midorikawa whispered, laying on top of his lover, feeling his heart beat in sync with his.

Hiroto ran his fingers through Midorikawa's green, silky hair.

'Yeah.. Always.'


End file.
